short-uuid

Generate and translate standard UUIDs into shorter - or just different - formats and back.

v5.2.0

5.2.0 adds validate method to check short IDs. Requested by @U-4-E-A 5.1.0 adds translation support for the uuid25 (Base36) format with the uuid25Base36 constant.

Major Changes in 5.0.0

• 🛑 5.0.0 drops support for Node 10 and 12.

Quick Start

1const short = require('short-uuid');
2
3// Quick start with flickrBase58 format
4short.generate(); // '73WakrfVbNJBaAmhQtEeDv'

Details

short-uuid starts with RFC4122 v4-compliant UUIDs and translates them into other, usually shorter formats. It also provides translators to convert back and forth from RFC compliant UUIDs to the shorter formats, and validate the IDs.

As of 4.0.0, formats return consistent-length values unless specifically requested. This is done by padding the start with the first ([0]) character in the alphabet. Previous versions can translate padded formats back to UUID.

1const short = require('short-uuid');
2
3// Generate a flickrBase58 short ID from without creating a translator
4const shortId = short.generate();
5
6const translator = short(); // Defaults to flickrBase58
7const decimalTranslator = short("0123456789"); // Provide a specific alphabet for translation
8const cookieTranslator = short(short.constants.cookieBase90); // Use a constant for translation
9
10// Generate a shortened v4 UUID
11translator.new(); // mhvXdrZT4jP5T8vBxuvm75
12translator.generate(); // An alias for new.
13
14// Translate UUIDs to and from the shortened format
15translator.toUUID(shortId); // a44521d0-0fb8-4ade-8002-3385545c3318
16translator.fromUUID(regularUUID); // mhvXdrZT4jP5T8vBxuvm75
17
18// Check if a string is a valid ID (length and alphabet)
19translator.validate(shortId); // true
20
21// Check if a string is valid *AND* translates to a valid UUID
22translator.validate(shortId, true); // true
23translator.validate('0000000000000000000000', true) // false
24
25// See the alphabet used by a translator
26translator.alphabet;
27
28// The maximum length a translated uuid will be with its alphabet.
29// if consistentLength is set (on by default), so ids will be this length.
30translator.maxLength;
31
32// View the constants
33short.constants.cookieBase90; // Safe for HTTP cookies values for smaller IDs.
34short.constants.flickrBase58; // Avoids similar characters (0/O, 1/I/l, etc.)
35short.constants.uuid25Base36; // The uuid25 (string length 25) format
36
37// Generate plain UUIDs
38// - From the library without creating a translator
39short.uuid(); // fd5c084c-ff7c-4651-9a52-37096242d81c
40// - Each translator provides the uuid.v4() function, too
41translator.uuid(); // 3023b0f5-ec55-4e75-9cd8-104700698052

Options

short-uuid 4.0.0 added support for options when creating a translator. This may support additional configuration in the future.

1const short = require('short-uuid');
2
3// By default shortened values are now padded for consistent length.
4// If you want to produce variable lengths, like in 3.1.1
5const translator = short(short.constants.flickrBase58, {
6  consistentLength: false,
7});
8
9// Generate a shortened v4 UUID
10translator.new(); // mhvXdrZT4jP5T8vBxuvm75

• consistentLength - Controls padding on shortened values. Default is true.

Support

short-uuid 5.x and later is tested on Node 14.x and later.

short-uuid 4.x was tested on Node 8.x to 18.x

short-uuid 3.x and lower was confirmed to work on Node 6.x to 12.x, and offered a precompiled browser library proposed by voronianski.

Notes

short-uuid provides RFC4122 v4-compliant UUIDs, thanks to uuid.

TypeScript definitions are included, thanks to alexturek.

Previous Release Note Highlights

5.0.0 drops support for Node 12 and below. 4.1.0 adds a maxLength value to translators for reference 4.0.1 adds consistent length translation and throws an error if provided an invalid alphabet. 3.1.1 removed Node 4.x tests. Last included Browserify distribution. 2.3.4 corrects the behavior for UUIDs with uppercase letters. Last version to build on Node 0.x.

Please see Revisions for information on previous versions.